Keo Expands Access to B2B Payments Platform in Brazil

Keo World is expanding access to its B2B payments platform Workeo in Brazil through a partnership agreement with investment bank BTG Pactual Bank S.A.

This partnership will help medium and large businesses in Brazil digitize their B2B invoice payments with Keo’s Workeo solution, in collaboration with the Amex Business Link platform, Keo said in a Monday (Dec. 16) press release.

“In a market where less than 10% of total traditional credit is extended to [small- to medium-sized businesses], our Workeo product enables business buyers to access core inventory on credit and suppliers to increase their recurring sales, enhancing working capital management through a fully digital, frictionless and low-cost financing and cash management platform thanks to our innovative payment rails, credit processing and the American Express network,” Keo Founder and CEO Paolo Fidanza said in the release.

Workeo provides businesses with a working capital line of credit through a digital wallet within payment and billing rails available via Amex Business Link, according to the release.

With Amex Business Link, buyers and suppliers can optimize their working capital and improve their operational and reconciliation processes, the release said.

Headquartered in Miami, Keo also operates in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and throughout Latin America, per the release.

“Thanks to this expansion, companies in Brazil will be able to access an innovative and 100% digital ecosystem that offers digital payment and billing tools for local and international transactions,” American Express Supply Chain Solutions Global Head René Centeno said in the release.

American Express launched Amex Business Link in December 2022, saying this digital B2B payments ecosystem for its network participants enables third-party issuers and acquirers to provide their business customers with more efficient payments, both domestic and across borders.

Keo World applied the buy now, pay later (BNPL) concept to the business space to meet the needs of businesses that don’t have access to traditional credit, Fidanza told PYMNTS in an interview posted in February 2022.

“The big benefit in the business, more than in the consumer space, is that normally these businesses can take this inventory, sell it or make it work to produce money before they need to pay for it,” Fidanza said.

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